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Please help with speaker choices

Hi all,
Well the room and time has lead me down the road to upgrading speakers. A most exciting time, but alas, filled with choices and no possible auditioning for me.

So I must relie on this communities suggestions and help!!

First the current system:
Nick Doshi Preamp
Nick Doshi modded Lectron JH50
Amazon Referenze TT
Triplanar Tonearm
CDP-Don't have one yet
Focal 1007 Be Monitors-current speakers

Room Size:
21 by 13 with 8ft cellings

Music:
I listen to pretty much everything. Sorry for being so general. In one listening session I may move from Coltrane, to Cannonball Adderly, to Muddy Waters and Johnny Lee Hooker to Lucinda Williams and electric/folk Neil Young. Throw in some Dylan and then move onto the White Stripes, Beck, if I'm real rowdy maybe some Ramones or AC/DC, then come down with some Edith Piaf and a sip of 12 year single malt.

Reason for wantng change:
One is I find this a hobby. For me that means having fun with experimentation. So far I have only owned the Focals.
Two is now that I moved my system against the short wall and facing out to the long part of the room, the monitors seems lacking, like they are too small to fill the space, like it is too much effort. Three is I have nerver had a floorstanding speaker and the prospect excites me. Four is, sitting wise, I can only get about 9 feet near to the Focals. To place them closer puts them right in the middle of the living room. Not really acceptable. At 9 feet, the monitors just not presenting the soundstage I desire. At that distance with monitors, I am just not in the heart of the music.

Also something important to note is I like listening loud, but do not always have that option as my system is in the living room and out of respect for others cannot always listen loud so I must have speakers that offer low volume detail.

My choices so far (more of course welcome)
Sonus Faber Cremona floorstanders
Merlin VSM-Mxe
Verity Fidelio Encore
ATC 20's passive

At the higher end(only consider if HIGHLY recommended)
Verity Parsifal ovation
Sonus Faber Amati Homage

Monitors I might consider
Focal Mini-Utopia Be
Sonus Guarnari Homage

OK, sorry for rambling so much. Obviously I am putting a lot of thought into this. Any input much appreciated!

Peter
mariasplunge
jtimothya
551 posts
 

I would not describe the larger Audio Physic speakers as warm though they will reveal the character of the electronics driving them. Mid-field positioning is a near necessity for full appreciation of their virtues. That means out into the room, typically closer to the listening position than the back wall. In very rough terms if your couch or chair is against the wall, imagine your room divided in thirds, with two-thirds of the room behind the speakers. On well produced orchestral recordings all the action happens in the space between the the speakers and the back wall. Proper positioning coupled with a narrow baffle bring precise time/phase coherence that yields, among other things, delightfully dimensional imaging. Considering your room description I doubt they could work for you without some serious commitment of living room space. From your system pictures I would ask if your room requires your speakers to book-end your equipment table?

And from your list I'd be inclined toward the Parsifals, but I don't know the boutique electronics so cannot gauge synergy. Or, how about a pair of Wilson Sophias? Have fun with your search!

Tim
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Pete, I prefer alcohol. ;)
mariasplunge OP
174 posts
 
Alcohol it is!!

Tim thanks for the decription. That was going to be my next series of questions, given my room constraints how do folks see certain speakers fitting into my space. There are severqal issues. Facing the speakers, the one on the right can only get about 2.5 ft off the long wall. On the left side, its about 5 ft to the long wall.

Both speakers, because my couch splits the room basically in half, can only be about 2.5 feet off the wall. That might make for far field listening, me sitting about 10 feet from the speakers. I wish I could get more off the wall, but my better half does not want them sticking out into the room to much and honestly the way our living space is set-up to bring them further into the room really almost puts the left speaker right in the entry way, which sits on the left side of the room.

So I have to ask, condiering those contraints which in the suggested does well with those contraints.

Also, i have a question about room accustics. When I clap my hands in the room, I hear a definate echo. Does that mean I need more dampening to remove that echo?

Thanks for the advice,
Peter
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
2.5 feet is bad. You may benefit in LF do to room gain. But you might think twice about any rear-ported speakers. Your speakers will be about 7 feet apart, which also isn't bad for the 10' distance. Once you have them setup you may talk the wife into moving the listening position forward or back a foot or so to hit the sweet spot.

How long does the clap echo last? A couple of reverberations isn't too big of a deal. You don't want the room too dead. Now, if the clap really bounces around you could add some plants, stuffed chairs, pillows, etc. I doubt you'll ever get the wife to agree to bass traps, corner traps, and all that other acoustic treatment stuff.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Ops, meant to 2.5' isn't bad.
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